The plot rambles on in the middle and some things really do come out of left field at the end, even for Jones. The book is certainly one of Jones’s better (and more memorable) novels, but it’s not her best. Dark Lord, besides its deconstruction and almost satirical look at fantasy, also is pure Jones through and through-a complex plot, where many things don’t fall together until the very end, humor (although not as prevalent as in other books, or maybe just more subtle), and a fascinating world with memorable characters.

Furthermore, Dark Lord is almost like looking at fantasy tropes from a writer’s point of view, having to come up with new and improved things every time yet still trying to make them quintessentially the same. It’s set in the world that she describes in her Tough Guide to Fantasyland, where she basically deconstructs fantasy tropes from the “tourist’s” point of view, and in Dark Lord, she sets it from Fantasyland’s world’s point of view and further deconstructs fantasy tropes. Even so, things go from bad to worse, until it seems unlikely that even Querida can help.Īnother of my favorite Diana Wynne Jones’s novels, Dark Lord of Derkholm is Jones’s proverbial wink-and-nudge at common fantasy tropes. When Blade at last gets to conduct his party of offworld tourists around the continent, he is almost glad that Shona decides to come, too. And what does it feel like to be a Wizard Guide to a Pilgrim Party? Frantic.

When Derk has an accident with a dragon, all his children, human and griffin, are forced to do the Dark Lord’s work for their father. Blade and Shona, Derk’s human children, share their home with five griffins. And what does it feel like when most of your brothers and sisters are griffins? Interesting. Wizard Derk, who has spent much of his life peacefully breeding griffin, winged horses, flying pigs, invisible cats, and intelligent geese, is horrified to find he has to rebuild his house as an evil fortress and knock down a nearby village. What does it feel like to suddenly be Dark Lord? Dreadful. The first two people they see are Wizard Derk and his son Blade.

The first person you see, they are told, must be this year’s Dark Lord, and the second person must be the Wizard Guide. Querida takes a small group to consult the Oracles about getting rid of Mr. Querida, High Chancellor of Wizards’ University, has received more than one million letters from wizards, farmers, soldiers, elves, dragons, and kings, all begging her to put a stop to Mr. What does it feel like to have your world devastated by offworld tourists? Not good. Dark Lord of Derkholm, by Diana Wynne Jones, was published in 1998 by Greenwillow.

Dark lord of derkholm series